This invention relates to a brake drum particularly adapted for motor vehicles and being reinforced with an embedded reinforcement member to provide a composite structure.
Brake drums used for motor vehicles such as heavy duty trucks are typically formed by casting grey iron and machining the casting in areas where precision dimensions and surfaces are required. Although iron brake drums perform satisfactorily, designers of braking systems are constantly striving for enhanced performance, lower cost, increased fatigue life and lighter weight. One particular shortcoming of conventional all-iron drums is their susceptibility to heat checking and crack formation which can ultimately lead to failure of the drum.
As a means for providing an improved brake drum, composite structures are known in which steel is incorporated into an iron brake drum for reinforcement. For example, in accordance with U.S. Pat. No. 2,316,029, a bell-shaped stamped sheet metal housing is provided having an iron inner portion centrifugally cast in place to form the friction surface of the drum. Although drums of this construction operate satisfactorily, the location of the steel reinforcing layer is not optimized since the higher bending stresses imposed on the brake drum by the brake shoes are very close to the inside cylindrical surfaces of the braking surface where the reinforcement of steel can be most advantageously used. Moreover, the process of manufacture of such a drum would require specialized machinery and processing steps.
Another approach used in the past is to provide an externally applied reinforcing member such as a steel band as taught by U.S. Pat. No. 3,841,448. This approach also requires specialized fabrication equipment and further does not optimally locate the steel reinforcing member. Moreover, the interface surfaces between the drum and reinforcement need to be precision machined and providing a good bond between the parts can be difficult.
A steel wire ring is embedded within an iron brake drum structure according to U.S. Pat. No. 2,111,709. Although this structure would likely provide improvements over an all-iron brake drum according to the prior art, the reinforcement provided by the single ring is positioned only to reinforce the open mouth of the brake drum. In addition, no means for positioning the reinforcing member during the molding process is disclosed by this patent. The large cross-sectional area of a single reinforcing ring could further lead to poor bonding between the iron and steel ring due to the heat sink imposed by the ring.
The brake drum according to U.S. Pat. No. 4,858,731, which is commonly assigned to the assignee of the present invention, employs a cage-like reinforcement assembly made from steel wire which is cast in place to be substantially embedded within a grey iron brake drum. Locating wires are provided to position the reinforcement structure with respect to the mold cavity during casting. Since the steel material of the reinforcing assembly has a considerably higher modulus of elasticity than grey iron, the reinforcement increases the strength of the composite drum structure, thus decreasing mechanical deflection in response to loading. Although this brake drum makes improvements over previous drums, the locator wires of the reinforcement structure locate on both of the two mold halves when positioning the reinforcement structure. In this regard, the locator wires cross the parting line of the mold and present problems in terms of maintaining tolerances in the positioning of the reinforcement structure relative to the machined, loading or friction surface of the drum.
Additionally, the interior ends of the locator wires were required to have precise diameters in that this end was required to contact both mold halves. Furthermore, Applicant's prior design tended to cause sand from the casting molds to be scraped free as the two mold halves are put together, leading to imperfections in the final product.
In accordance with this invention, an improved composite brake drum is provided which exhibits a number of significant benefits over previous cast brake drums. The brake drum according to this invention employs a cage-like reinforcement assembly, preferably made from steel wire, which is cast in place to be substantially embedded within a grey iron brake drum. Specifically, the present invention offers an improvement in the locating and positioning of the reinforcement assembly relative to the machined, loading or braking surface of the drum. The locating means of the present invention accurately positions the reinforcement assembly with respect to one mold half during casting and therefore, neither crosses the parting line of the mold nor requires spanning the separation of the mold halves at the locating end. Thus, properly positioned, the reinforcement assembly eliminates the tolerance problems which lead to reduced drum life.
The locating means also allows for easy reforming and fine tuning of the reinforcement assembly prior to mounting within the mold. This further assures accurate positioning of the reinforcement assembly.
The present invention is additionally beneficial in that it allows green casting sand, which has been scraped or dislodged from the mold during positioning of the reinforcement assembly, to be cleared from the mold cavity before the mold is closed for actual casting. With the present reinforcement assembly contacting only one mold half, upon closing of the mold, additional casting sand will not be scraped from the second mold and the mold cavity will remain free from contaminants, upon closing of the mold. With the free or loose sand removed, the porosity of the casting is reduced and the strength of the drum proportionally increased.
The reinforcement assembly also reduces the generation of surface checks and cracks which can propagate and ultimately cause mechanical failure of the brake drum. The increased strength of the composite further enables a reduction in the quantity of iron that is required to produce a brake drum of given strength, thus resulting in a lighter weight brake drum structure. The reinforcement assembly further results in the reinforcing sections being positioned close to the machined friction surfaces of the drum within tolerances required for the most advantageous structural efficiency. The axial aspect of the reinforcing assembly serves to reinforce the brake drum across the entire depth of the friction surface. Significantly, the composite brake drum according to this invention can be fabricated using conventional sand casting processes with minimal variations, thus saving the cost of retooling. Due to the fact that the metal reinforcing sections of this invention are distributed, relatively small diameter wires can be used which in turn enable the wires to be rapidly heated to temperatures near those of the molten iron being poured into the casting mold. Thus, good fusion between the iron and embedded steel reinforcement is promoted and casting cycle time is reduced.
Additional benefits and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art to which this invention relates from the subsequent description of the preferred embodiments and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.